The latest movie from the DC Universe will debut in theaters this weekend, with the release of Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and the studio is apparently keeping their expectations for the film in check. According to Exhibitor Relations, Warner Bros. is estimating the movie will open with $45 million in the United States. Now the studio could certainly be low-balling the estimations in the event that it does much better than expected, effectively making sure it over-performs, but if the film did debut in the mid $40 million range that would be a low mark for the franchise.
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As of this writing, the movie with the lowest opening in the DCEU is Shazam! with $53.5 million, which would make Birds of Prey the lowest grossing of the new crop of DC movies if it were to bring in $45 million. That low of an opening would also put it at opening to less than half the domestic opening of Joker just five months prior. Despite its lower opening Shazam! did have strong legs overall during its theatrical run, bringing in $140 million total in the US and $363 million worldwide, resulting in a sequel being put into development. Keep that in mind in the event that Birds of Prey has a soft opening, the film could still hold strong at the box office thanks to good word of mouth and little competition, both of which it has.
Birds of Prey is sitting pretty at 86% and “Certified Fresh” status on Rotten Tomatoes, lower than Wonder Woman andShazam! by just a few points but higher than Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Aquaman. We here at ComicBook.com gave Birds of Prey 3 out of 5 stars, with Brandon Davis writing:
“Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) manages to serve as an impressive ensemble adventure with all of the characters, save for one of them, being brand new to the big screen. Operating without reliance on ties to other films benefits the girl gang’s film, telling a story with no strings or restrictions attached (that applies to violence and language, thanks to an R rating, as well), is something the film capitalizes on quite well. On the heels of Aquaman, Shazam!, and Wonder Woman dropping in their own isolated pockets of the big-screen world, Birds of Prey is another entertaining and bold adventure.” —Read FULL REVIEW HERE.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is now playing in theaters.
